2013 brings new coaches to the sidelines

Wednesday

When the high school football season begins, there will be some new faces roaming the sidelines at area schools.

Of the 18 football schools in The Hawk Eye's coverage area in southeast Iowa and west-central Illinois, seven will have new head coaches this year.

For five of the new head coaches, it will be their first time manning the ship after spending time as assistant coaches. For two other coaches - Lyle Klein at Illini West and Shawn Striegel at Mount Pleasant - they will be replacing legends who replaced legends.

The coaching carousel was in high gear this offseason. Now, the teams hope they have hit the jackpot as the season kicks off.

Travis Cook, West Hancock

Cook is no stranger to the sidelines, having played running back and defensive back for Carthage and Hall of Fame coach Jim Unruh before graduating in 1994. After graduating from Western Illinois University, Cook landed a job teaching physical education and world history at Hamilton Junior High.

Cook joined Unruh's staff as a volunteer assistant coach in 1996, helping the Blueboys win a state championship. Cook has coached football every year but one since then.

After graduating from WIU, Cook coached at Hamilton and West Hancock before becoming defensive coordinator at Quincy, a job he kept for five years before returning to West Hancock. Cook was an assistant coach at both West Hancock and Quincy under Rick Little, another former Carthage great.

Cook was an assistant coach under West Hancock head coach Brian Lewton last year before taking over the head coaching duties this year when Lewton took a position on Little's staff at Quincy.

Cook learned the game from numerous standout coaches, including Unruh, Lyle Klein and Bill Lapp at Carthage. Not surprisingly, Cook is switching the Titans' offense from the spread to the wing-T he operated in at Carthage.

"Obviously we've struggled the past couple years, but I don't see any reason we can't be competitive every single game," Cook said. "From what I've seen the past couple years, we've been losing close ball games. We've got to find a way to win those close games. There's no reason we can't."

Cook and his wife and three children make their home in Carthage.

Brad Helmerson, New London

Helmerson is certainly no stranger to New London. The 1988 graduate of New London High school is not only the town's fire chief, but also has been the head varsity baseball coach for the Tigers the past five seasons.

Helmerson is very familiar with the New London football program. He was the starting quarterback for the Tigers during his playing days, helping New London reach the playoffs in 1985. He returned to the sidelines as an assistant coach in 2006, a position he has held until taking over the program this season.

Helmerson, who had the opportunity to coach his son, Kyle, in baseball, will now get to coach his younger son, Cole, in football. Cole Helmerson is an offensive lineman for the Tigers.

Helmerson has been able to juggle his time between his duties as fire chief and being a coach. He will have to do so even more this fall.

"I have already told the guys at the fire department that they probably won't see a lot of me for a few weeks," Helmerson said.

Already, Helmerson is seeing a new attitude and a revived enthusiasm around the program. There are 46 players on this year's squad, nearly double last year's roster of 25. With plenty of athletes, that has allowed Helmerson some flexibility, both in the playbook and in practice.

"The best thing so far is we have 46 kids out for football. That is a huge plus. We are able to practice better than we have, run more drills and stuff," Helmerson said. "We have about as many upperclassmen as we do lower classmen, so we have a lot more experience. Hopefully that will help us turn things around."

New London enters the season with a 21-game losing streak. The Tigers' last win was on Oct. 1, 2010 against Winfield-Mount Union. They have not had a winning season since 2008.

Helmerson is counting on his assistant coaches - Mark Chiri, Jon Brown and Aaron Brown - to help lead the way.

"I have a great staff," Helmerson said. "We've got a new system in place. I like the direction we are heading in right now."

Mike Hurley, Van Buren

Hurley returned to his alma mater after a three-year stint coaching at Union High School in Biggsville, Ill. Hurley played football and ran track at Van Buren for four years and was on the wrestling team for three years before graduating in 1989. After graduating from Western Illinois University, Hurley coached track at Union for three years.

Since his return to Van Buren, Hurley has coached junior high football for five years, coached boys track for three years and taught high school and junior high physical education.

Hurley also had a stint as athletics director at Van Buren. It was during his tenure that the Warriors dropped varsity football for a year due to low numbers. Since reinstating the program two years ago, Van Buren has slowly begun to make the climb back up.

"Our numbers are really low, so a lot of kids just don't go out for football," Hurley said. "You need at least 22 guys to have a team. This year we have 27. We've really struggled with numbers."

Hurley, who is married and has four daughters, has struggled with health issues through the years. He battled a brain tumor over 15 years ago, then had a major stroke two years ago that sidelined him for a year.

Now, Hurley hopes to restore Van Buren to the glory days that he enjoyed during his youth.

"It's tough on me being an alumnus and seeing the program struggle. We never had a losing season when I played," Hurley said. "We have some big seniors and some skilled juniors coming back. If we can cut down on our mistakes, we should be a better team than we were last year."

Lyle Klein, Illini West

Klein is the next in a long line of legendary coaches, first at Carthage and now Ilini West. He takes over the program from Tim Lafferty, who succeeded Hall of Fame coach Jim Unruh. Klein, who once coached with Fuzz Berges, the namesake of the field, now gets his chance to put his own stamp on the storied program.

Klein gleaned his style from a mixture of the coaches he coached with and played for.

"The good thing is we're not starting new. If anything it's a mixture of both coaches. Both brought a different attitude to practice. Coach Unruh is a little more laid back. Coach Lafferty is definitely on fire. It's kind of an in-between," Klein said. "I like an edgy practice. It's football, it's supposed to be edgy. I don't think anything has changed. The boys weren't surprised. It's just like the old hat. They went to the same stations they went to before. We stress fundamentals - running the football, taking care of the ball and playing good defense and special teams."

Klein, 45, grew up in Savannah, Ill., where he played football, wrestled and ran track.

Klein moved on to Augustana College, where he played for Hall of Fame coach Bob Reade and was part of the Vikings' last national championship in 1986. Paul Unruh, Jim's father, was an assistant coach on that team.

From there, Klein landed a job teaching history in Carthage. He joined Jim Unruh's staff in 1993 and has been defensive coordinator, special teams coach and fresh/soph coach at various times.

During his tenure as an assistant coach under Unruh and Lafferty, Klein was part of teams that went to the playoffs 20 straight years, played in 10 state semifinal games and nine state championship games and won four state championships.

"It's been an honor to be around this program as long as I have. I realize that my job is to not continue it - it's for the boys to continue it - but to make sure we are going in the right direction all the time," Klein said.

Klein, who has three children, including one on this year's team, knows the standards at Illini West are high. They are judged not by playoff appearances, but by trophies. He plans to keep the tradition going.

"The last two years the team here made the playoffs. I've had so many people say, ‘What are you going to do to get the program back on track?' We made the playoffs with those two teams. They were outstanding, both of them. They did more than most of the state was able to do. Every team comes in here looking for a championship season. That's our standard. That's the standard that's been set for us by generations of football players going back to Fuzz Berges," Klein said.

Justin Putz, Louisa-Muscatine

Louisa-Muscatine hadn't qualified for the playoffs since 1984. That all changed two years ago under the tutelage of Guy Dierkx, who led the Falcons to the promised land two straight years. But Dierkx took the head coaching job at Davenport North, leaving Louisa-Muscatine in the capable hands of Putz, one of his assistant coaches the last four years.

Now, Putz hopes to keep the momentum, going with one of the top running games in the state.

"I call it ‘Following Superman.' Guy's first year as head coach was my first year down here. He is obviously a great coach, a great role model, great leader. He's just a great guy that a small school has to have. All the guys respect him. All the guys like him. Even more so the entire school. The entire student body liked him. That's why I call it, ‘Following Superman,'" Putz said. "You have to put your own stamp on it. I've been around the last four years when we've been trying to rebuild. A lot of things we've done as a program speak for themselves. We've done it together as a staff. It's not like we're starting totally over. But he's going to be a tough guy to replace, there's no doubt about that."

Putz played quarterback during his days at Edgewood-Colesburg High School, where the Vikings ran everything from a wing-T to a spread offense. It was there that he developed the ‘smash-mouth' mentality that Louisa-Muscatine has employed the last few years. Putz doesn't plan on changing that anytime soon.

"Just kind of standard run the ball and hit you in the mouth a little bit," Putz said. "It's real similar to some of the things we do here."

Putz went on to play baseball at Wartburg College.

Putz was hired at Louisa-Muscatine, where he served as offensive coordinator the last two years. With Putz calling the plays, the Falcons' double-wing offense scored 302 points and rushed for 3,247 yards last season, both school records.

Now as the Falcons' head coach, Putz plans for more of the same this year as Louisa-Muscatine will use its smash-mouth brand of football to chase a third consecutive playoff appearance and a district title behind a massive offensive line and a returning backfield.

"One of the things we talk about is enjoy a challenge and enjoy Friday nights because that's what you run track for. That's what you put the time in the weight room for. That's a chance to showcase all that hard work and shine in the moment," Putz said.

John Stirn, Danville

Stirn is no stranger to Danville, nor is he a stranger to late nights.

Stirn, who is a police officer for the Burlington Police Department, has spent the last five years as an assistant coach for the Danville football team.

Stirn, who has spent much of the last 20 years coaching football at one level or another, knows what it takes to win. He was an offensive guard and defensive end at Aledo High School in Illinois. In fact, he took his son to see a game at Aledo, which is now called Mercer County. It was an eye-opening experience.

"He had never been to a game with that type of environment before. I took him and a couple of his friends to a playoff game," said Stirn, whose nephew plays for Mercer County. "They were just awestruck. The whole town shows up for the games. That's what we're trying to build up in Danville, that type of atmosphere and environment."

Stirn, who lives in Danville with his wife and son, has been on the Burlington police force for 23 years.

Now, Stirn will devote some of his time to building the Danville program back into a playoff team, step by step.

"Football fits into my schedule," Stirn said. "If I have to take vacation time to meet the requirements, I just do it. This has been a passion of mine for a number of years."

Shawn Striegel, Mount Pleasant

Striegel has been a coach and teacher at Mount Pleasant for nine years. He has been the throws coach for the track teams for several years while also serving as an assistant football coach.

Striegel, who previously was a head football coach at his alma mater, Tri-County, now finds himself following in the footsteps of a legend -Bob Jensen - who followed in the footsteps of another legend - Bob Evans.

Striegel is ready for the challenge.

"It's a big job. Any 3A school with a tradition in football like Mount Pleasant has is an ideal job," Striegel said. "To follow Coach Jensen and Coach Evans makes it even more special. I take it very seriously. They built a legacy here. Coach Jensen is a big figure here in town. A lot of people expect big things from us."

Striegel, who went on to play football at both Simpson College and St. Ambrose University, got the opportunity to coach nearly every position during his stint at Tri-County. Now, he gets to delegate those responsibilities to his assistant coaches.

"I have a great staff here," Striegel said. "I have the opportunity to specialize on the offensive linemen and let the other coaches do the rest. We have several guys who played college football and love the game. They help me out a lot."

Striegel, who teaches sixth- and eighth-grade social studies, is married and has three daughters.

Striegel is ready to get the season started, ready to start his own legacy.

"August practice is so much anticipation of the game," Striegel said. "Everyone is excited to play that first game, to hit somebody else."

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